HiSilicon Kirin 970 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 865

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


HiSilicon Kirin 970 CPU1 vs CPU2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
HiSilicon Kirin 970 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865

CPU comparison

HiSilicon Kirin 970 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.40 GHz. Up to 8 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The HiSilicon Kirin 970 was released in Q3/2017.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.84 GHz. The CPU supports up to 16 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 was released in Q4/2019.
HiSilicon Kirin Family Qualcomm Snapdragon
HiSilicon Kirin 970 CPU group Qualcomm Snapdragon 865/870
6 Generation 7
Cortex-A73 / Cortex-A53 Architecture Kryo 585
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the HiSilicon Kirin 970 is 2.40 GHz while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 has 8 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is at 1.84 GHz.

8 Cores 8
8 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.40 GHz
4x Cortex-A73
A-Core 2.84 GHz
1x Kryo 585 Prime
1.84 GHz
4x Cortex-A53
B-Core 2.42 GHz
3x Kryo 585 Gold
-- C-Core 1.80 GHz
4x Kryo 585 Silver

Internal Graphics

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

ARM Mali-G72 MP12 GPU Qualcomm Adreno 650
0.75 GHz GPU frequency 0.25 GHz
GPU (Turbo) 0.59 GHz
Bifrost 2 GPU Generation 6
16 nm Technology 7 nm
1 Max. displays 1
12 Execution units 2
192 Shader 512
2 GB Max. GPU Memory
12 DirectX Version 12.0

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode
Decode / Encode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 can use up to 8 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is --. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 supports up to 16 GB of memory in 4 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 71.3 GB/s.

LPDDR4X-2133 Memory LPDDR4X-4266, LPDDR5-5500
8 GB Max. Memory 16 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
-- Bandwidth 71.3 GB/s
No ECC No
L2 Cache 1.75 MB
2.00 MB L3 Cache 4.00 MB
PCIe version
PCIe lanes

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the HiSilicon Kirin 970 is 9 W, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 has a TDP of 10 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

9 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 10 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 is manufactured in 10 nm and has 2.00 MB cache. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is manufactured in 7 nm and has a 2.00 MB cache.

10 nm Technology 7 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
ISA extensions
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
Android Operating systems Android
Q3/2017 Release date Q4/2019
-- Release price --
show more data show more data



Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.

HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
1176 (100%)
Show all Geekbench 6 (Single-Core) results



Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.

HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
3244 (100%)
Show all Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) results



Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.

HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
349 (41%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
845 (100%)
Show all Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core) results



Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.

HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
1455 (44%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
3295 (100%)
Show all Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core) results



iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.

HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
ARM Mali-G72 MP12 @ 0.75 GHz
330 (26%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
Qualcomm Adreno 650 @ 0.59 GHz
1250 (100%)
Show all iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS) results



AnTuTu 9 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 9 benchmark is very well suited to measuring the performance of a smartphone. AnTuTu 9 is quite heavy on 3D graphics and can now also use the "Metal" graphics interface. In AnTuTu, memory and UX (user experience) are also tested by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu version 9 can compare any ARM CPU running on Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly comparable when benchmarked on different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 9 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The rating is made up of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the working memory, and the performance of the internal graphics.

HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
668494 (100%)
Show all AnTuTu 9 Benchmark results



AnTuTu 8 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 8 Benchmark measures the performance of a SoC. AnTuTu benchmarks the CPU, GPU, Memory as well as the UX (User Experience) by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu can benchmark any ARM CPU that runs under Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly compareable if the benchmark has been performed under different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 8 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The evaluation consists of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the RAM and the performance of the internal graphics.

HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
598103 (100%)
Show all AnTuTu 8 Benchmark results



Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.

HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
5846 (100%)
Show all Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark results



Devices using this processor

HiSilicon Kirin 970 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
Huawei Honor 10
Huawei Note 10
Huawei Play
Huawei Honor View 10
Huawei Mate 10 Pro
Huawei P20
Huawei Nova 3
Huawei Nova 4
OnePlus 8
OnePlus 8 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S20 5G
Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G

Leaderboards

In our leaderboards, we have clearly compiled the best processors for specific categories for you. The leaderboards are always up to date and are regularly updated by us. The best processors are selected according to popularity and speed in benchmarks as well as the price-performance ratio.


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